Tokyo! (part 8) - END

About time I concluded my Japan trip lol.

Headed out to Harajuku station for the 2nd time on Saturday morning, to show my sis around the place. Since it was still rather early, we decided to visit the Meiji-jingu shrine just behind the station! It took a good 15mins before we finally reached the shrine. Along the way we ran into a large group of elderly Japanese tourists who were excitedly making their way to the shrine. Quite an amusing sight =)



The huge torii gates! The wood for the 2 pillars came from a tree on a mountain in Taiwan. The largest torii in Tokyo I think?

And... we were in luck! I counted at least 2 couples getting married in traditional ceremonies!





The first couple!



A pair of huge, beautiful trees connected by a rope.



The actual shrine itself, built in memory of Emperor Meiji.





The 2nd couple!

It was my first time seeing this so it was quite exciting for me, and for the other tourists that were busy snapping away. I suppose the bride and groom felt as if they were celebrities or something. And those kimonos! They looked so exquisite and elaborate! If I were a Japanese girl I'd probably want to wear one of those XD

After that we walked a short distance to take a picture of the Yoyogi National Stadium, where Ayumi Hamasaki always holds her finale and countdown concerts =) I could hear a street band performing in nearby Yoyogi Park but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to investigate.



Shibuya AX is located behind the stadium, where the likes of YUI and AKFG have performed before ^^.



Harajuku's Meiji-dori street. Not many of those gothic dressers walking around, probably because it was still early in the morning. I could spot several groups of normally dressed youths pulling luggages <- filled with their extravagant clothings!



The crepes! This time I ate a simple one - vanilla and blueberry. Delicious! And cooling too, on a sunny day despite the time of the year.

We walked all the way to Shibuya from Harajuku , where we headed back to the hotel to get ready to visit my dad's old colleague and friend from Hitachi, Fujita-san!

We took a long train ride all the way to Mobara station in Chiba (about 2 hours, even on an express), where Fujita-san met us with his nephew-in-law, Yuichi-san. Really nice to see them again after 5 years, with that same wide smile. Unlike the last time we had some time to spare before dinner so they showed us around their quiet hometown.



Fujita-san and us.



Yuichi-san (don't you think he looks like the guy who acted in the Trick series?)

We followed them around Mobara park, where we walked to a Buddhist temple surrounded by cemeteries (contrary to the obvious it was quite tranquil instead of scary). Then they brought us to Fujita-san's sister's house/salon for a drink and some snacks. Small and cozy place! Exactly the same as I remembered 5 years ago. I didn't get a haircut though XD. Met a couple of high school boys getting their hair styled in the salon. Yuichi-san then brought us to the old Hitachi factory where my dad used to work at.

Once it was time we headed off to this cozy little Italian restaurant for dinner, where the entire extended family turned up!



Everyone was quite delighted that we were there, including Fujita-san's daughter Aya-san and niece Soko-san who bombarded my sis and me with questions about life in Singapore and other random stuff. Quite amusing when trying to understand their English while at the same time phrasing the answers so that they'd understand. Tried my hand at speaking some Japanese (and failed, sadly) although Soko-san said I was very good XD. Then we had this lively discussion about kanji vs chinese characters and names. They were quite intrigued by our chinese names, and were very amused when we translated their Japanese names into (rather bad-sounding) Chinese ones. Too bad we had to leave relatively early to catch the last train going back to Tokyo.

The next morning on Sunday, me and my dad headed down to Akihabara to take a quick look around before we flew back to Singapore. It was drizzling slightly so there wasn't much activity outside the station (I missed the cosplayers and street performers! T.T).

It's really a geek heaven! Huge buildings filled to the brim with electronics, computers, consoles and games, anime, figurines and many other random (geeky) stuff. Too bad I didn't step into the famed Maid Cafes (I didn't know what to expect, especially with my dad around =x) and that 7 floor building filled with porn mentioned by depyon XD



And the ultimate geek nostalgia:



I haven't seen one of those in ages! Ever since I stopped playing my SEGA console I thought cartridge game consoles were dead (minus the Gameboy). Apparently someone resurrected the Nintendo 64 and its available for sale! If it wasn't for the high prices of the cartridges I'd have bought one for old time's sake =)

After that half-satisfactory visit to Akihabara we bade farewell to Japan, back to Singapore.

Somehow I get the feeling that I'll want to go back again. Someday, when I have the money XD

ROCKKKK!!!!

And so the day of reckoning finally arrived on Sunday, after weeks of practice and preparation.

We had a short run-thru before heading down to Suntec City, where all the action was. I was actually expecting the Cosplay and Jrock event to take up the entire atrium, so I was kinda disappointed when I saw the Sony exhibition area XD. Anyways, there was a crowd which grew slowly, including those in the upper levels, so it wasn't bad at all.

There were a few bands playing before us, one in particular obviously loved Shiina Ringo. Pretty impressive, especially since Tokyo Jihen songs aren't the easiest. Another had a female vocalist singing male vocals which was kinda weird. Couldn't make out the lyrics for most of Luna Sea's Rosier since the song was pretty low. LOTS of cosplayers walking around, decked out in maid costumes, frilly dresses, anime characters (I saw Naruto, Bleach, Ragnarok Online, Ryuk from Deathnote) and other fancy gothic outfits. I liked Ryuk the most heheh. Too bad he didn't have an apple on hand to much on.

Soon it was our turn to go onstage. A bit nervous while setting up, but after awhile during the sound check (Sweet child 'o mine, baby!) it sort of melted away. We started with Rewrite by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, then ALONES by Aqua Timez, Driver's High and Stay Away by Larc and finally Storm by Luna Sea. Quite hard to describe how I felt, it just felt so good to stand on stage and blast on my guitar. It was fun, despite dropping my pick and stepping on the wrong pedals ^^. A pity the audience wasn't that enthusiastic, although I could tell most of them enjoyed the more popular songs (ALONES, Driver's High and Storm). Somehow Luna Sea has a lot of fans in Singapore?

Some photos and videos, credits to Helixius from YL.com =)



ALONES
Driver's High

Really high after the whole thing. Hot and tired. Sweaty. Hungry. But satisfied.

confetti

Manchester United: Champions of England, Champions of Europe!


update: the performance timing for tomorrow has been changed to 6.45 instead of 6.15!

Hot right?

That's global warming for you. Go on, keep that air-conditioner turned on.

I'll be waiting for the rains to fall.




In another note, I've not read a serious book in a loooong time. Kite runner was probably the last one I read (which was a few months ago). My brains are rottinggggg.

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Tokyo! (part 7)

Early on Friday morning we went to the outlet mall in Makuhari located in the Chiba prefecture for some bargain shopping XD Took a loooong train ride which took us past Tokyo Disneyland. Really brought back memories of my first ever trip to Japan.

The whole Makuhari station area was surrounded by huge suburban malls, including the outlet mall which housed brands like Nike, Aasics, Adidas, Columbia, several girlish clothing brands, and strangely, Triumph and Wacoal lingerie stores.

Bought a new pair of sneakers at the Nike store for only 2999yen!! That's only about 40SGD!

I grew tired of shopping so I took a long walk through the town park and surprise!



Unknowingly, I had walked all the way until I reached the beach! Great view of Tokyo Bay =)

After lunch I rushed back to Tokyo to meet depyon, a fellow Singaporean who had just started studying in Waseda University. He showed me around the Takadanobaba area before leading me to the SILS faculty of Waseda. Really diverse place! There were foreign students as well as Japanese who had studied overseas, and most of them could speak really good English! I was equally impressed by the modules they could take as part of the course - A wide range of languages, sports, music and even community service! Makes me wanna study at Waseda for a semester or 2 as an exchange programme XD

We met up with a few Singaporean Waseda students before heading off to Harajuku where we met another group from Todai.



Harajuku Station.

We walked up and down Takeshita dori as well as Omotesando Hills.



The entire Omotesando Hills shopping mall is built on a slope, which explains the unique sloping design of its floors!

Sadly I forgot to take any more photos as the company was simply too interesting XD Heard lots of stories and jokes about their experiences of living and studying in Japan, including dates, girls, drinking, keitais, weird characters and whatnot ^^. There was a mix of the newbies, the (relatively) old birds, the and the outsider - me. You might say I was slightly envious of them =) We had such a long chat even after a long and filling dinner of ramen that we went back to the Ma-cu-Do-nal-do at Harajuku for supper and more chatting. That was where I saw my first McPork (or Ma-cu-Po-ku). I can dare say McDonald's would close down if they ever introduced that here in Singapore.

Soon the curfew times for those staying in hostels beckoned and everyone took the train back, which was still packed like hell (it was already 11pm!).
The whole experience was kinda surreal - I never expected to speak Singlish so openly and with so many fellow Singaporeans my age in Japan, of all places! It was a refreshing way to relax and just talk loads of cock especially after a long and somewhat quiet tour.

I learnt a lot about university life in Japan that night! Not to mention the life of a Singaporean student in Japan... Will definitely consider going for an exchange program in Japan in the future!

Champions!!

This picture says it all.

Tokyo! (part 6)

First thing on Thursday morning we took the subway to Tsukiji Fish market. However we made a very big mistake - rush hour!!!

The Ikeuburo train station was packed! People were squeezing and pushing to get past the barriers, as well as into the trains. We were lucky to get into one, although the relief lasted only a second as people continued to pour into the carriages. I finally experienced how it felt to be a sardine squashed in a tiny can - wedged between 2 towering salarymen in black coats. To make matters worse there was an accident in the Oedo subway line, so our train was stuck for a good 10minutes.

When we finally reached Tsukiji at around 11, it started to drizzle. Since we arrived too late, we missed out on the actual fish market and decided to just take a walk among the narrow alleys filled with lots and lots of stalls selling fresh seafood!





We had a hearty brunch of ramen and beef bowl!!







My dad was feeling partically peckish so we started to hunt for this stall which sold freshly grilled shellfish -



I saw lots of weird shellfish, including this box of "uni" or sea urchin. My parents absolutely loved it (I just don't get the idea of eating the meat of a spiky ball thingy)



A visit to Tsukiji wasn't complete without a taste of its fresh sushi! So we entered this sushi shop, and I was rather surprised to see a female sushi chef! You don't see many of those around.





A fishmonger slicing up a huge piece of tuna meat.

After that rather filling visit to Tsukiji we went to Kamakura, a few stops away from Yokohama, to visit the famous Daibutsu, or Giant Buddha.



The bus ride from the station to the temple.



Daibutsu! According to history a huge tsunami swept into Kamakura, killing lots of people and destroying nearly everything - everything except the Daibutsu. Even the temple that housed it was swept away.



A cute map probably drawn by one of the locals, as we walked down the sloping and winding streets of Kamakura towards the beach. On the way I was lucky to see this



A train crossing!

After a long walk we finally found Yuigahama beach! The song by AKFG Yuigahama Kite was probably named after this beach, considering their Yokohama roots.



We took the small train in the above picture back to the station and to Yokohama! By the time we reached Yokohama the sky had already turned dark and the rain was super heavy! Not the best weather to go walking about in the streets but we did anyway. My shoes were soaked ><

After a 15min walk we reached our destination - Chinatown!



Thanks to the weather there wasn't much activity in Chinatown, though most of the shops were still open and brightly lighted up. Saw a number of stalls selling GIANT BAOs. And those buns were really huge! Even bigger than the da bao you can get here in Singapore.

We went into this Chinese restaurant (there were plenty of those, they practically lined the streets) for some comfort food. Though the food tasted less salty than what I was used to, they were quite good! Ate supaiku (sweet sour pork), fried rice, fish and some dimsum. The staff could speak very good Mandarin, and the manager even spoke in Cantonese! Not sure if they were Japanese though =x

More coming in part 7!

A Random Essay

The Impact of Economics and Industry on the Environment

This debate crossed my mind as I was taking a shower (of all places). It floated in my mind as I fumed about the incessant rumble of several air-conditioning systems running from my neighbours’ flats. Having studied the basics of economics back in JC, I formed a pretty logical argument regarding the link between economics and the increasingly urgent problem of global warming.

I’m sure the first reaction to the title would be to think of all the negative impact that economics and industrialization has on the environment. Until today my stance was that the Industrial Revolution way back in the 18th century was the spark that created the demon called environmental degradation. It’s not an illogical one; in fact nearly all evidence of environmental damage today point towardthe overzealous Man, his never-ending thirst of economic and social progress. The burning of fossil fuels to create energy was a major factor in inspiring the improvements Man has made to his way of living, as well as empowering him to exert his influence over the previously all-powerful Mother Nature.

The main principle of economics is the law of demand & supply, something which we all know and love. It’s deceptively simple: somebody wants something; another will provide it – at a price. The first signs of this probably emerged ages ago, when tribes of pre-humans engaged in the primitive version of barter trade, probably exchanging meat for firewood etc. Fast forward to 18th century humanity. Populations were relatively high then, so naturally there would be a high demand for anything that would enhance their standard of living. Then came the miracle drug called Energy (in the form of steam), powered by the seemingly endless supply of coal, oil and wood. Mankind greedily fed on this Energy, driving an insatiable demand for everything that burns fuel. The suppliers gladly obliged, profiting from the feast. Science and engineering came into the picture, churning out a Pandora’s Box of applications for Energy, from clothes to cars, from light bulbs to planes. And all this while, the atmospheric carbon dioxide content, as well as the myriad forms of pollution, started to climb.

On this note we can point the accusing finger at Mankind and economics for engineering the rise of the global warming phenomenon. It’s a simple equation: HUMANITY = Economics = Demand + Supply = Industry = GLOBAL WARMING. That places economics in a rather flattering role, does it not? With Mr. Gore and so many other scientists and environmentalists placing the blame on it, it seems a guilty culprit.

However, economics has the potential to undo the wrongs, to reverse what has already been playing out. Thanks to greater enlightenment and spotlighting on the subject, there has been a sudden change in ideology, spurning millions of people to create what I call the Green Economy. All over the world, there is a small but growing group of people willing and able to subscribe to a greener way of life, which in turn sparks off another group of highly entrepreneurial people to create products which supply exactly just that. And the driving force behind all this? Technology, the offspring of science and engineering, the 2 factors which spawned the problem in the first place. The examples today are countless – the increasing popularity of hybrid/fuel cell vehicles, solar power (and just about any other form of greener energy), biofuels (though the debate still rages on about its greenliness), more efficient appliances, blah blah blah, green this green that. Unfortunately price still remains a high barrier to mass adoption of these products. This is where economics has the potential to exert itself again – when supply increases, price falls, demand rises. With advances in technology, production costs will fall, resulting in manufacturers increasing their outputs. This is already evident in the photovoltaic industry, where the costs of producing solar cells are slowly falling, coupled with a surge of firms into the industry.

The problem with all this is that technology takes time; time which is slowly ticking away the rise in the alcohol. Here is where another aspect of economics takes centre stage – scarcity. Scarcity may seem like a bad thing – who wants to run out of oil? That is precisely the permanent fix to the impending global warming disaster. As we all know, fossil fuels do not last forever and take ages to replenish. The day the last drop of oil burns may be the day we stave off our thirst for the black gold. Fortunately economics may hasten our change of taste – oil is already becoming its nickname. At more than 100USD a barrel, people around the world are feeling the pinch on their wallets. Not only does it affect fuel prices, inflation is also closely linked to it. More often than not many are forced to change their way of living, a greener way of living, even if it may not be that obvious. Consumers aside, the industry is also panicked into looking into cheaper, alternative ways of firing up their factories and plants. One negative fallout would be the proliferation of cheaper, dirtier coal burning power plants, already evident in rapidly developing China. The other, more optimistic view would be the motivation for firms to invest in R&D, to accelerate the magical but slow technology. Already, clean burning coal plants and possible nuclear plants are replacing existing ones in China, while Australia wants to test carbon sequestering. People are rushing to buy hybrid cars which translate to huge savings on the ever rising petrol prices while leaving behind a smaller carbon footprint. Electricity prices will rise in the short term, forcing people to cut down on usage. In a not-so-nice-but-green kind of equation: SCARCITY = Reduced supply = High prices = Reduced demand = GREEN.

Not everyone welcomes high prices of course. While the US slips into recession and prices of oil and commodities skyrocket, everyone will have to lead less lavish lifestyles. Hardest hit would be the poor, and more will slip into poverty. I do not wish to be insensitive to them, but humanity will have to make some sacrifices in order for us to be able to combat global warming. If you think about it, if all of us were still living the way we lived a few centuries ago, the Earth would be a much cooler place. At the moment probably a few pockets of us still live off the land and I respect them for that. But for the rest of us, the life that we’ve always led is hard to change. We can always hope for the economy to bring about greener technology, but what we can do NOW is to sacrifice a little here and there. Trust me, you will feel better, once you believe that you have made AN impact. And that in itself is economics – Earth needs something and WE shall provide it.

Lim Hong Yi
29/04/08

Tokyo! (part 5)

Time to continue the Japan story...

And so we went off on our own to Tokyo on Wednesday!

We took the Keisei Subway line first thing in the morning from Narita airport direct all the way to Nippori station in Tokyo, after which we immediately transferred to Ikebukuro, where our hotel, Sunshine City Prince was. Must be quite a spectacle, 4 foreigners hauling 4 huge luggages through the crowded station. The 3rd most crowded (and complicated) station in Tokyo apparently, after the Tokyo and Shinjuku stations.



A typical densha (electric train) station in Japan.



The view from inside the train. This was taken just after the rush hour, so we were lucky to escape the canned sardines feeling. Lots of ads hanging from the rails! One thing that impressed me - no one talked on their mobile phones in the train! Although I don't see the reason for doing so (I suppose its irritating to some), it really contributes to a relatively peaceful train ride.



Ikebukuro, outside the station! This became our home in Tokyo, walking through the same street every morning and night. Although not as hip as Shibuya, there's alot of small shops that sell all kinds of stuff hidden in the narrow alleys! I found 2 used CD shops (where I spent most of my free time), a guitar shop, a tiny ramen stall, lots of Pachinko shops and random others from porn to Italian cuisine. Aside from the huge Mitsukoshi, Seibu and HMV stores of course =)

After checking in and settling down we headed down to Shibuya for some retail therapy.





The famous "Shibuya crossing". Hordes of people!! Irrespective of the direction, whenever the traffic stopped everyone just poured onto the road, crisscrossing here and there.



The famous Shibuya "ichimarukyu" 109! 7 floors filled with ladies fashion from top to bottom! And there's a 109 for guys too haha.



I just had to take this. Hahaha.



The not-so-famous Hachiko statue! The story goes something like this - Hachiko was a dog who followed his master every morning to Shibuya station to send him off to work. One day his master died, but he never failed to show up at the station every morning, hoping to see his master, until he himself passed away. After he died the residents of Shibuya built a statue to remember the dog's loyalty and love for his master!



A "Safe & Clean" campaign, featuring YUI! The lamp posts were blasting her songs throughout the streets of Shibuya. I was kinda puzzled with the connection though haha.



The skies turned dark as I explored Shibuya. Didn't really buy much stuff since most of the things there were geared towards the ladies and the really fashionable (neither of which I belong to). I did pop into the major record stores Tower Records and HMV though. Its a unique concept really, individual buildings owned by entire stores with multiple floors catering to their customers. You simply don't see that in Singapore, everything's located inside a shopping mall. I suppose its the lack of land here (but then again, Tokyo's not exactly spacious either lol).

After that we went to Roppongi Hills for dinner.



A great view of Tokyo Tower from the top of Roppongi Hills! Besides being known for its nightlife, pubs and clubs, Roppongi Hills also hosts most of the foreign embassies.

Which is probably the reason why I saw this:





ZOMG CARROT CAKE! HOKKIEN MEE! CHICKEN RICE!!!! At horrendously inflated prices.



We dined at Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo.



The huge beef burger I ordered. Finally, something sinful after all that super healthy Japanese food. Muahahahahaha.



There were lots of foreigners (i.e non-asians) hanging around the pubs and clubs - I spotted Americans, British, Russians, French, and some others which I couldn't identify the languages.

And so this concludes part 5!